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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28407276">Shields</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenKestral/pseuds/BrokenKestral'>BrokenKestral</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kings &amp; Queens, Self-Sacrifice, Swords</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:22:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28407276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenKestral/pseuds/BrokenKestral</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Swords bear names; shields bear none. Why is that?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shields</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: the idea for this story came from reading a One Piece fanfiction where a swordsman, one of the best fighters in the crew (no, I’m not arguing with anyone about that) is magically transformed into an item that represents him. It’s a shield. He fights with three swords and he turns into a shield. The discussion about why helped to clarify my thinking on this.</p><p>If anyone is interested, it’s chapter fifteen of “30 Warm Fuzzies” by ZeldaAddict32 on fanfiction.net.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>~Gobber, </span>
  <em>
    <span>How to Train Your Dragon</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>OOOOO</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My kind are never named. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>   Rhindon is forever etched into the minds of boys reading of the High King. Merely speak of the gifts Father Christmas gave, and the name will leap to mind. It was the sword that slew a Wolf, that made a boy a Knight, that he carried through his crowning and then to every battle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   And the Keeper of the Chronicles of Worlds tells me swords bear names in many worlds. We hear the tales of Narsil reforged and born in the hands of a returning King, Excalibur drawn from a lake, the Vorpal Blade slaying the Jabberwocky, the Master Sword blessed to defeat Ganon, and Tessaiga made from a father’s fang. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   Do you know the names of their bearers? It is only when the man is matched to the sword that legends are born. They are conquerors of evil and defeaters of monsters; the death of the wicked comes by their hand. It is battles that make for good tales, and it is often by the sword that battles are won. So it is that the swords are named in legends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   Tell me, have you ever heard a shield named?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   Have you ever heard the tales of a king who defended his land so well no enemy entered? Who bore the toil and the anger and the hits, so that those he shielded never felt the bite?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   No, for such things are not the stuff of legends. They are the long hours that are never finished, not even when the long hours turn to heavy years. They are untold tales of lost sleep, quiet dedication, and unwavering determination. All of us know why they are untold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   The name of a shield is not remembered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My kind bear names nonetheless.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>   Tell me of the High King’s shield. I know it does not have a name, but all remember how it appears. Silver and glinting, with a cherry-red lion in the center. In other worlds, the shields bore the heraldry of their master’s house or the cause to which they were sworn. The Keeper showed me a painting of knights with long white shields with red crosses, and all who saw that shield in that world knew of the cause. Shields are not named, nor are the kings who do not conquer, but those who see the shield remember the House, the Cause, the Lion. We are not named because all we are is bound to the thing we shield. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   I am a nameless King. In the years on years of peace that leave nothing interesting for the history books, my name will be one in a long list that I hope young Narnians are never forced to memorise. No one will remember the Calormen army that mustered by the ships storming into Narnia, for by the blood and loyalty of Narnians the ships were burned. No one will remember the pirate fleet they hired instead sailing onto our shores, spilling blood and burning trees, for an alliance with Galma, Archenland, and Terebinthia taught them such an attack would be folly. I cannot be remembered for what did not happen, and I would have it so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   There is One who remembers. One who will, at the end of my life, tell me He has counted every hour I gave, every silent wrestling where I persevered, every sigh of tiredness or pain that there was no one to hear. He will remember. He has heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   But that will not be for many years, if my reign follows as my father’s did. And no one else will remember my name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   So on the worst of the trying days, I go to Cair Paravel’s window and look out, and I see her. Narnia. The nation etched on my soul as deeply as the lion on High King Peter’s shield, in unremovable metal by fire. Narnia will be remembered, and Narnia will be safe. I have been a shield. They have not felt the blows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>   That is enough to fill my soul with thankfulness. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: I have two siblings in the medical field, on floors with COVID patients or in helicopters transporting the live virus for the vaccine. It’s become a risk they’re accustomed to, a part of their daily lives that they no longer think much about. But to all those who face a higher risk to help shield the rest of us and make us safe, thank you. Truly.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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